Monday 16 September 2019

To the strongest! 2 London Grand Tournament

First up, I needed two light infantry handgun units to finish off my Venetian Condatta army, two six man units,old glory, nice and easy to paint, lots of character.







They complete my Venetian army.
Here it is:



One command of a deep pike unit with attached general, a raw militia spear unit and three light handgun units (including the two new ones).
Second command of two units of later knights, a unit of mounted crossbow men a unit of Stratdios ( veteran javelin armed) and attached general.
Third command of two units of later knights,a unit of mounted crossbow men  a unit of Stratdios ( veteran javelin armed) and an attached senior general.
First game was up against  Simon (the author of the rules) with his Milanese Condatta army, so historical opponents, unsurprisingly I lost, but I had great fun and learnt to garrison my camp in future!
Next game was against a Nikephorian Byzantine army led by another Simon, which literally ran rings around me and I also found my later knights bouncing off his Varagnian guard,a good time had by all, another loss.
Third game I was up against King Arthur's knights led by Ian,in the guise of, feudal French,lots  of knights,this time I clung onto a draw, mainly down to the resilience of my later knights , should have lost!
Fourth and final game was against Gareth's WOTR Yorkist army, I didn't think I'd used my infantry and especially my deep pike block enough in the previous games and with a little more understanding of the game and a lot of luck I actually managed to win a game!
All the armies were nicely painted and a really nice crowd with lots of helpful advice from people who know the rules inside and out.
A very good way to spend the day in a lovely building, plus I got to see a mate who was playing in the guildball tournament.
Next up? Probably terrain,it seems to be taking a long time!
Best Iain

50 comments:

  1. I love the look of your Venetian Army! You improved your final standing with each game played. Soon, you will be unstoppable!

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    1. Thanks Jonathan! Unstoppable,I rather doubt it! I was really just going along in the hope of having a better idea of the rules by the end of the day and I certainly achieved that!
      Best Iain

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  2. Would have liked to see the Ven-Byz game. Did you get any pictures?

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    1. Oh I'm really sorry,I had planned on doing that but because of work and stuff I actually felt like I was rocking up to an exam without having done enough homework and that all got forgotten about! There is a picture of the game on the big red bat cave blog.
      Best Iain

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  3. Brilliant army Iain, just so colourful. Glad you got to win a game too.

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    1. Thanks Lee! Lots of colour and flags! Always nice to win!
      Best Iain

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  4. Nice work on the new chap and it seems you had a good time at the event.

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  5. Splendid work on Venetian Army, Iain. Wish you more luck the next time. Beat them up :)
    PS very nice tent. Who does it?

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    1. Thanks Dmitry! Did better than I expected! The tent is a conversion of a rendra bell tent with wire legs and fabric it's actually covered in my second post,20 March 2017 together with some other shelters.
      Best Iain

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  6. It's a very good looking army and of course you'll have to game a lot more before you know it's strength and weaknesses fully, but a win a draw after your initial losses makes the future brighter !

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    1. Thanks Joe! Yes I was very happy with how the day went.
      Best Iain

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  7. Nice additions, Iain. And grand looking images from the tourney (last post)!

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  8. Bellissima armata e bel mix di miniature

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    1. Thanks Ronin! You can't just have one manufacturer for this period!
      Best Iain

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  9. So you managed four games in a day - I take it your play has speeded somewhat? I do like your army and I think you did rather well against armies that seem less well balanced but often play better under the rules. You have a nice mix of units and it's an army you can love even if it doesn't win.

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    1. Yes,my play speed up considerably! I don't think the opposition had killer tournament armies, just they were more experienced and knew the rules better. I am certainly happy with the look of the army!
      Best Iain

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  10. Sounds like a great day. That’s a really nice army, the pike block is so impressive. A good win against a WotR army with all of that longbow power that they have.

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    1. Yes Norm,a grand day out, I'm not sure how powerful longbows are in this rule set I did a certain amount of hiding behind hills but my pike block weathered the arrow storm, one of the other players was successful with a longbow army, more research needed!
      Best Iain

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  11. Great work Iain, that is a lovely looking army. The Venetian pike are probably my favourite unit.

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    1. Thanks Oli! I really like that pike block!
      Best Iain

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  12. Lovely figs and a grand era. Sounds like your trajectory is heading in the right director, results wise.

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    1. Thanks Ed and I agree about the period! I'm just happy getting any games in to be honest!
      Best Iain

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  13. Replies
    1. No they're 28mm! Only joking! Thanks Fran!
      Best Iain

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  14. Great looking Venetian army!

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  15. Your army looks smashing even if they didn’t smash all who opposed them. Still, sounds like a fun day and what more could be asked for? 😀Still like the rules themselves after 4 games?

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    1. Thanks Stew! Really like the game, trying to sort some more games out, so all good!
      Best Iain

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  16. Great additions and a really fine-looking army Iain. The tournament sounds like it would have been great fun.

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  17. How was the day generally? I've heard good and bad about the London Grand Tournament, although more from the GW crowd than the historical side. I did get tempted by this (being London based) but complete and utter lack of knowledge about the rules made me reconsider.

    Army looking superb, as ever!

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    1. I thought the venue was great ,loads of parking, nice new modern building with plenty of daylight the food wasn't so good as there was a big rush at lunch time, not sure what they could do about that to be honest. My mate had a less good time with guildball but I guess that's just a much more competitive environment. The rules are pretty fast to pick up, especially if you're playing the writer! Seriously they're meant to be a quick run down and have a go type of rules, glad you like the army!
      Best Iain

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  18. A great looking army, and your tournament play was definitely improving by the sounds of it :-)

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    1. Thanks! As I've said above,I was just happy getting a few games, the win was a bonus!
      Best Iain

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  19. Nice looking units.......tournaments are not quite my style but sounds like a very engaging event 🙂

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    1. Thanks Matt,I know what you mean but it was a very good natured event.
      Best Iain

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  20. Really impressive and beautiful pics! But to know that all those saw some action is the icing of the cake :)

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    1. Thanks Suber! Yes a bonus bit of action after all that painting!
      Best Iain

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  21. Win or lose, it doesn't matter, your army is too busy looking gooood.
    A very colourful and nicely painted army you have there Iain.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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    1. Thanks Pat! Win ,lose or draw it doesn't really matter!
      Best Iain

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  22. Lovely period, diversified and colorful uniforms!

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    1. Thanks Phil! Sorry I've changed all the French flags for Venetian, I'm sure they'll change back in time!
      Best Iain

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  23. Army looks spectacular mate and sounds like 4 decent and educational games! Will you go again?

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    1. Thanks Dai!4 fun games and I'd definitely go again!
      Best Iain

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  24. Fabulous looking models. Must take an age to paint without uniform colours.

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    1. Thanks! You kind of get into a rythm but I was surprised how fast uniformed troops were to paint after!
      Best Iain

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